JACKSON — Choctaw County native Roy Oswalt received four votes out of 425 for the Baseball Hall of Fame. But his career earned run average of 3.36 was better than the two pitchers, both contemporaries of Oswalt, who were elected.
Roy Halladay, with a career ERA of 3.38, received 363 votes and Mike Mussina (3.63 ERA) received 326 votes. Two other pitchers with higher ERAs than Oswalt, Curt Schilling and Andy Pettite, also received considerably more votes than Oswalt.
“A lot of that stuff is political,” Oswalt said. “You have 400-some guys voting and they all have opinions. A lot of times they don’t look at numbers.
“Teammates told me all the time that they wanted me on the mound and that means more to me than 400 guys who never played the game.”
Oswalt was interviewed at the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame, where he participated in a star-studded panel of current and past baseball players with Mississippi connections who discussed the National Pastime.
He was joined on the “Hot Stove” panel by two other former major pitchers, Jay Powell and Paul Maholm, San Diego Padres outfielder Hunter Renfroe and Mississippi Braves manager Chris Maloney. Powell, Maholm and Renfroe all attended Mississippi State.
Oswalt played baseball and football at Weir High School before the school was merged with Ackerman High School to form Choctaw County High School. Weir won the 1A state championship in football his senior year.
“It was a big football school. Everybody played football. I got to play in front of a lot of people. One thing about Weir football is that it was sold out every night.”
But there was never any doubt about which sport he would play at the next level. “I was 160 pounds when I graduated so I knew that (football) wasn’t my sport. I knew in baseball I had a talent to throw the ball with great velocity.”
Oswalt pitched at Holmes Community College and was prepared to continue his baseball career at Mississippi State. “I grew up a Mississippi State fan so I always wanted to go there.”
He didn’t because he was drafted by Houston in 1996 and signed with the Astros. “I always wanted to be a big leaguer, but I never thought it would come true. Not many people where I came from got to pitch in the big leagues. I knew that if I kept producing I might get a chance.”
Which is exactly what happened. As a rookie with the Astros in 2001 he was 14-3 with a 2.73 ERA to finish second behind Albert Pujols for National League Rookie of the Year.
The early success did not surprise him. “I felt like I could execute pitches well enough so that I would consistently throw pitches where I wanted to throw them. The whole thing about pitching in the big leagues is being consistent.”
Over 13 seasons with the Astros, Philadelphia Phillies, Texas Rangers and Colorado Rockies he was 163-102, including two 20-win seasons and a National League best ERA of 2.98 in 2006.
Oswalt might not have made the Baseball Hall of Fame, but he is a member of the 2019 class of the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame.
The panel members fielded baseball-related questions from Hall of Fame executive director Bill Blackwell and the audience. Oswalt, Powell and Maholm were asked the toughest batters they faced.
Oswalt did not hesitate to name Barry Bonds. “You couldn’t get a ball by him over the plate. He wouldn’t swing at anything off the plate.”
Powell agreed, calling Bonds “the best player I ever played against.”
Maholm chose Pujols.
Renfroe named Cy Young winners Max Scherzer and Jacob deGrom as the toughest pitchers he has faced. “Scherzer is disgusting.”
Another question was who had the greatest influence on the players’ careers. For Oswalt it was Mike Maddux, the older brother of Hall of Famer Greg Maddux. Mike Maddux was Oswalt’s pitching coach in the minor leagues.
“He showed me how to change speeds.”
In retirement, Oswalt remains involved with the sport as a coach at Starkville Academy. At age 41, he is four years younger than Bartolo Colon, who is still pitching in the major leagues.
He has no desire to attempt a comeback, but did say “I can still throw the ball pretty well velocity wise.”
